Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 100) sur l'égalité de rémunération, 1951 - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the Fuel and Energy Workers’ Union (FEWU) received on 30 August 2023.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gap. The Committee notes the concerns expressed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in its observation received in 2020,and the FEWU that the gender pay gap in favour of men remains significant in Kazakhstan. They state that occupational patterns of gender divisions, both horizontal and vertical – such as the existence of a list of occupations prohibited for women, the concentration of women in traditional and low-paid sectors of the economy, and the barriers to accessing senior executive-level jobs – contribute to the gender-based wage gap. According to the data of the National Statistical Bureau of the Strategic Planning and Reforms Agency, the unemployment rate for females in 2021 was higher than for males (5.4 and 4.3 per cent, respectively), and the number of economically active women is still currently lower than for men. Women’s participation in the labour market is limited due to widespread adherence to patriarchal stereotypes, in particular with respect to childcare and domestic responsibilities. The ITUC and the FEWU indicate that there is vertical segregation, as women are under-represented not only in leadership positions and in managerial positions in the private sector, but also in the civil service and in national and regional political life. The target of the proportion of women at the decision-making level, approved in the Strategy for Gender Equality (30 per cent by 2016), has not been achieved in all sectors and regions of Kazakhstan and was pushed forward to 2030. Horizontal segregation in the labour market is corroborated by a clear division of “male” and “female” occupations, with “male” spheres of work being more highly paid, and a prevalence of women in spheres that are low-paid. The ITUC indicates that another factor for the difference in income between women and men relates to parental leave, which is taken by women due to local traditions and the fact that women bear the primary burden of caring for growing children, despite section 100 of the Labour Code providing the right for both mothers and fathers to take parental leave. The Committee notes the Government’s reply that the Labour Code guarantees the right to equal pay for work of equal value (i.e. for work of identical duration, intensity and complexity) and does not permit any form of discrimination in payment for work. Where the qualifications and locations are identical, if a woman occupies the same position as a man with identical working conditions and all other features, women’s and men’s salaries are identical. The Government also indicates that there are no limits to career growth for women, including for young women. It further states that the Act of 12 October 2021 on Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts on the Social Protection of Certain Categories of Citizens abolished the list of jobs for which women’s labour is restricted, therefore broadening employment opportunities for women by ensuring their access to all jobs, including those in industries (oil and gas, mining, and manufacturing), transportation and construction, which are classified as having hazardous and harmful working conditions. The Committee asks the Government to take every necessary step in order to: (i) effectively address the horizontal and vertical occupational segregation between men and women; (ii) promote the participation of women in the labour market in a wider range of occupations, in particular jobs with career prospects and higher pay, including through awareness-raising and sensitization to overcome gender stereotypes; and (iii) provide information on the earnings of men and women in both the private and the public sectors, and on the evolution of the gender pay gap.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.